Premier Jason Kenney. (Government of Alberta)

By David Opinko

Several Southern Alberta irrigation districts to be upgraded with $815-million investment

Oct 9, 2020 | 1:48 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Farmers throughout much of the region can expect to see their irrigation systems upgraded in the near future.

Last week, the federal government announced $10-billion for major infrastructure initiatives, which includes $1.5-billion for irrigation. Of that, $815-million will go to projects in Alberta.

READ MORE: Trudeau announces $10-billion for “major infrastructure initiatives”

“This historic investment in irrigation infrastructure will create thousands of jobs and support Alberta’s economic recovery, while strengthening our competitive advantage,” says Premier Jason Kenney. “Agriculture is the beating heart of Alberta’s economy and as global demand for agri-food products continues to grow, our producers and irrigation districts will be better positioned to meet that demand for generations to come.”

The eight irrigation district participating include:

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• Bow River Irrigation District
• Eastern Irrigation District
• Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District
• Raymond Irrigation District
• St. Mary River Irrigation District
• Taber Irrigation District
• United Irrigation District
• Western Irrigation District

Of the $815-million, $407.5-million will come from the federal government. $244.5-million will be contributed by the province while irrigation districts will spend $163-million.

The money will “modernize” irrigation district infrastructure in the following areas:

• Increase irrigated acreage
• Increase primary crop production
• Improve water use efficiency
• Increase water storage capacity
• Enhance water security
• Provide flood protection to support long-term value-added processing activity

“This expansion will see hundreds of kilometres of pipelines built, contribute about $436 million annually to Alberta’s GDP, and create over 8,000 jobs,” says Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Devin Dreeshen. “The more than 200,000 acres of new irrigated farmland created from this expansion is roughly a third of P.E.I.’s total farmland. Alberta started out and always will be an agriculture powerhouse.”

Currently, Alberta has more than 1.7-million irrigated acres of land. The irrigation industry generates about $2.4-billion in annual labour income and supports roughly 56,000 jobs.

The new investment is expected to crease up to 6,800 direct and indirect permanent jobs as well as up to 1,280 construction jobs.

“Today’s irrigation investment announcement shows the immediate and tangible results delivered by the Canada Infrastructure Bank through its new three-year $10 billion Growth Plan to improve lives of Albertans and Canadians,” says Federal Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Catherine McKenna.

Alberta’s agri-food sector employs about 77,000 people and contributes $9.2-billion in GDP.